Nearly nine years after Brett, a US army veteran, served his last mission in Iraq, he came back. This time he was not fighting for the US army, but as a volunteer for Kurdish Peshmerga forces. For Brett, it was an ideological decision. "Most people don't understand what persecution is," says Brett. He is a devout Christian, and felt compelled to help the Kurds achieve freedom from the tyranny of Islamic State.—Martin Himel